Method of surveying wells and apparatus therefor



March 26, 1940.

w. J. oPoCENsKY 2,195,224

METHOD OF SURVEYING WELLS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed May 3. 1958 2 Sheets-SheetA 1 JZ /1V-IIII'IIIIIIIII l I lll'lllllllll /N VEN TOR 1716'3 Wlmf J @000m/SKV b g S c s TTOR NEE:

Mardi 26, 1940- w. J. oPocENsKY v r195,224 METHOD 0F SURVEYING WELLS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed may 5, 1958 2 sheets-sheet 2 Millilill 'I f f 26 if J6 35 0 J FIG. Il 1716412 .2716.

[N VEN TOR l/V/LAED J @Doof/149W B Y M A TToR/VE Y Patented Mar. 26, 1940 i l uNiTiazD STATES PATENT `o'l-i-iclat METHOD 0F SURVEYING WELLS AND APPARATUS THEBEFOR Willard J. Opocensky, Long Beach, Calii'., assignor to Lane-Wells Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation oi' Delaware Application May 3, 1938, Serial No. 205,731

8 Claims. (Cl. 33-205) My invention relates to a method and appava-tional View showing the initial stand of tubing ratus for surveying the course of well bores, and with aksurveyig instrument at its lower end and is particularly related to well-bore surveying with the orienting and sighting clamp positioned wherein the rotation of a string of rods or tubing thereon;

5 incidental to insertion into a well bore is deter- Figure 2 is a similar substantially Vdiagrams mined in order to establish orientation of an matic view with my rotation indicator shown ininclinometer or other well bore surveying instiu-` serted into the lowermost clamp for the purpose ment lowered withv and suspended from vthe of indicating the initial position of the survey instring. Accordingly, among `the objects of my strument; Y

lo invention are: Figure 3 is a plan yiew of my rotation indicator n First, to provide a method and apparatus oi' and its pantograph supporting frame; this character which establishes graphically Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional without mathematical calculations, the azimuth view through my rotation indicator, taken subof readings or records taken by a well survey instantially through 4-4 of Figure 3;

15 strument as it is moved stage by stage into or out Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view thereof u of a well bore on sucker rods, tubing or drill .taken through 5-5 of Figure 4; strings; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating Second, to provide a method and apparatus of fragmentarily the mechanical drive for my rotathis character which minimizes the human error tion indicator and the electrical elements conin that rotation of the string is automatically trolled thereby; i

recorded on a photographic film for comparison' Figures '7 vthrough 14 are reproductions of typiand correlation with a corresponding record obcal records obtained-by my method and 'in part tained from the survey instrument suspended' with my apparatus; 1

from the string; n More particularly, Figure 7 is representative Third, to provide a method and apparatus of of a record obtained'with my rotation indicator; s

this character which is particularly applicable Figure 8 is a corresponding record as obtained in conjunction with the apparatus and process from the survey instrument; and

set forth in the Stockenbury Patent No. 2,088,539 Figures 9 through 14 are composite records wherein, in effect, a predetermined point on the wherein that of my rotation indicator and the pipe or tubing string is carried along the pipe as survey instrument are shown superposed to facilit is inserted into or removed from the well bore; itate comparison and to indicate their relation. Fourth, to provide a novelly arranged portable In Figures 1 and 2 there is indicated diagramapparatus adapted to be set on the derrick door matically a rotary table I in which is secured a haVing a pin Which, by mere 111861131011 into a survey instrument case 2 containing a survey Sighting Clamp emplOyed in the above identifled instrument 3 of any suitable design, but prefpatent, indicates automatically the amount that erably one that indicates inclination and gives a.

. the pipe has rotated incidental to a. particular record of the time at which the record was made.

longitudinal movement; Instruments of this character are operated pho- Fifth, t0' prOVide a DI'OCeSS andapparatus 0f tographically-sucha type is preferred. The ino this character which materially reduces the time strument 3 1S a, wen established product and is 4 required, as well as increases the accuracy Ofwel! not part of the present invention, except as this bore surveys; -is inter-related with the rotation indicator. and

Sixth, to provide an apparatus of this characthe method whereby the records from the inditer which does not interfere with the usual opercator and survey instrumentare correlated.

5 ation in and about the derrick floor during run- 'I'he case 2 is attached to the lower end of a ning in or withdrawing the tubing or the like, stand of drill pipe 4, tubing or sucker rod, as de- With which the survey is accomplished; and sired. In the case 2, preferably near its upper Seventh, to provide an apparatus of this charend, there is provided a tapered socket 5 adapted acter which is durable and eicient in its action to receive a tapered pin, upon the extended end even under adverse conditions of use. of which is supported a transit 6 adapted to be w With the above and other objectsv in view, as sighted upon a distant object, the azimuth of may appear hereinafter, reference is made to 'which is known, so that the azimuth or bearing the accompanying drawings, subjoined descripof the survey instrument may be determined. tion and appended claims: l V In addition, two clamps 1 are secured to the Figure 1 is a substantially diagrammatic eletubing string, one near the top and the other 5| near the bottom thereof. Each clamp is provided with a tapered socket arrangement 8. The axes of the tapered sockets 8 are brought into registry by means of a adapted to be fit into the lowerrnost clamp, and a sighting telescope I8 adapted to be inserted into the uppermost clamp. The telescope I0 is provided with a cross hair adapted to be brought into registry with a line provided on the bar 9, and when so alined the axes of the sockets 8 are likewise in vertical alinement.

Before lowering the tubing string into the well with the instrument suspended thereon my rotation indicator is inserted into the lowermost clamp in piace of the sight bar 9, as shown in Figure 2, and a record obtained of this initial angle of the sight bar with respect to a fixed base on the derrick floor, as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

A pedestal I I is suitably secured to the derrick floor and is provided at its ,upper end with a yoke I2 having upturned bracket elements I3 at its ends which journal a shaft I4. Journaled about axes passing at right angles to and intersecting the axis of the shaft I4, near each end, is a pair of pantograph arms I5 which are journaled at their extremities to a cross member I6. A second pair of pantograph arms I1 are hinged to the cross member I5 and at their extremities to a plate I8. 'Ihe two sets of pantograph arms form parallelograms sharing a common end, namely, the cross member I8. This arrangement serves to maintain the plate I8, that is, a plane through its points of connection with the arms I1 at all times pazallel with the axis of the shaft I4. The plate I8 defines a yoke I9 having upturned bearings 28, between which is jourf naled-about an axis parallel with the shaft I4 a rotation recorder or indicator 2 I.

The rotation indicator is journaled on the bearings 20 by means of a body member 22 which is in the form of a circular relatively thick disc with a depending internally threaded flange into which is secured the upper end of a case 23. The case 23 is adapted to carry a motor driven camera mechanism 24 whereby a strip of film 25 may be fed periodically into a frame 26. The frame 28 registers with a lens assembly 21 secured in the body member 22'.

Extending upwardly from the body member 22 is a short sleeve 28 which journals internally by means of bearings 29 a cylinder 30 open at its ends. The upper end of the sleeve 28 supports a cap 3| which is screwthreaded thereto and which, in turn, supports a clock mechanism 32. The clock mechanism is conventional except that it is provided with a double face, that is, an upper face readable from the top of the cap 3| and a lower face exposed to the interior of the cylinder 38 and lens system or assembly 21.

'I'he cylinder 30 is provided with a radially outwardly extending arm 33 having a tapered extremity 34 adapted to be inserted in the sockets 8. The sleeve 28 is provided with a slot 35 adapted to clear the arm 33 and permit approximately half circular movement of the arm and cylinder, as shown best in Figure 5.

In order to protect the interior of the cylinder 1 from a source of outside light, as well as to protect the bearings 29 from dirt and contamination, there is provided a ring 36 which iits between the body 22 and the cap 3l around the outside of the sleeve 28, there being complementary step portions at the upper and lower sight bar 9 which is` ends oi' the ring coacting with the body member 22 and the cap 3| respectively.

The upper end of the cylinder 30 is traversed diametrically by a hair line 31. The hair line coincides with or may be at right angles to the axis of the pin 33 so ,as to indicate at all times the angular relationship of the pin 33 with respect to the body 22 and the photographic lrn 25.

The case 23 contains a motor, either spring driven or electrically driven (not shown), which not only drives the photographic lm but operates a series of contacts to accomplish a predetermined series of operations. Reference is Adirected particularly toFigure 6 wherein there is illustrated diagrammatically a drive shaft 4I which operates through a suitable intermittent drive arrangement 42, a countershaft 43 suitably associated with the camera feeding mechanism for the photographic film 25. The shaft 4I or another shaft operatively associated therewith is provided with a control wheel 44 having a single notch therein adapted to be engaged by a catch 45 provided at the end of a shaft 48 which protrudes through the bottom of the case 23 and is provided with a knob 41 which may be manually engaged for the purpose of lifting the catch 45 from the control wheel 44 and permitting a single revolution before the catch reengages, there being a spring 48 arranged to urge the catch 45 into engagement with the control wheel 44.

The control Wheel 44 is suitably associated with a pair of cam wheels 49 and 58 which control switches 5I and 52, respectively. One side of each switch 5I and 52 is connected through a master switch 53 to a battery 54, or other source of electric, power.l The switch 53 is also con nected through indicator lights 54 to ground. This light is adapted to be on whenever the vswitch 53 is closed to indicate that the system is ready for operation. The switch 5I is connected through a warning light 55 to ground, and switch 52 through a second warning light 58 to ground. The switch 52 is also connected through a plurality of photographic bulbs 51 to ground, said bulbs being mounted inside the cylinder 29 around the lens mounting 21, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The indicating light 54 and the warning lights 55 and 56, as well as the switch 53 and battery 54, may be contained within a housing 5B supported from the pedestal Il, the remaining mechanism being contained in the case 23 and conductor wires leading from the housing 58 to the case 23. The operation of the circuit shown in Figure 6 will be described in more detail hereinafter.

The pedestal II is provided with an adjustable arm 59 terminating in a multiple ribbed support 88 upon which the extremities of the pantograph arms I1 may rest when the rotation indicator `is not in use, as indicated by dotted lines in half circle. Consequently, when the survey instrument 3 has been orientedv by the telescope 6 and the clamps 1 have been alined one with the other, the pin 33 may be inserted in the socket 8 and a photograph taken of the hair line 31 and clock 32 to indicate what angle the hair line 31 assumes with respect to the clock face. A reproduction of such record is shown in Figure 7 wherein the peripheral markings-1I indicate the clock face, the triangular pointers 12 and 13 indicate the extremities of the clock hands, and the radial line 14 indicates the angular displacement of the pin 33 and hair line 31 with respect to any point on the clock face, such as the character XII.

'Ihe record obtained by the survey instrument may take the form shown in Figure 8, in which the concentric circles 8| represent the degrees of inclination, and the radial marks 82 the reference points with respect to the tapered socket '5, there being one such reference point 82a which is distinguished from the others. In addition, a cross hair marking 83 indicates the position of the plumb bob or other inclination indicating means, and the clock dial 84 serves to establish the time at which the photograph is taken, for correlation with the clock record taken in Figure 7.

In actual practice there is a pause between the insertion of each stand, while the succeeding stand is made up on the string, the clamps 1 are positioned and the sighting member I8 alined with the bar 9. The mechanism of the inclinometer instrument 3 is arranged to make records with sufficient frequency that at least one record is obtained during the necessary interval in which the tubing string is at rest. It is during such interval, of course, that the rotation recorder or indicator is inserted into the tapered socket 8, so that by comparing the time indicated by the clock 32 with the photographic record 84 of the clock in the survey instrument it is possible to correlate the two records. The initial record obtained in the rotation indicator, as shown in Figure 7, establishes the relationship of the initial survey instrument record shown in Figure 8, with respect to the known azimuth as determined by the transit 6. It is immaterial what angle the clamps 1 may take with respect to the transit 6 as long as it is within the range of movement of the pin 33. Thus the image 14 of the hair line 31 indicates an angle of approximately 30 degrees, and the reference indicia on the survey instrument record in Figure -8 would be set at 30 degrees also to correspond. Initially the upper clamp 1 is in vertical alinement with this position, but as the first stand of tubing, or the like, is lowered into the well the tubing may rotate, as for example, in Figure 9, thetubing may have rotated from the position shown in Figure 7 to a position wherein the angle of the hair line image 14 isnow slightly to the left, or approximately 40 degrees from its original position. Consequently the reference point 82 of the survey instrument record would be rotated correspondingly. For convenience, the records are shown superposed, and in practice they may be superposed photographically after the lms from the survey instrument and rotation indicator are developed.

In Figure 10 the composite record indicates that `the tubing string has rotated to the right about 20 degrees from the position shown in Figure 9. In Figure l1 the indication is that thel tubing has rotated about 40 degrees to the left from that in Figure 10, and in Figure 12 another 30 degrees from that shown in Figure 11. 'I'heoretically the rotation indicator could be de- I signed for rotation of 360 degrees, or at least over 180 degrees, and the socket 8 made double-ended. In practice, however, it is inconvenient to permit the clamps 1 to progress around the pipe for the reason that the derrick man cannot conveniently sight from all positions. It is, therefore, customary to maintain the clamps within a predetermined angulation from their initial position. Consequently, as the rotation of the tubing string progresses beyond the desired amount, the clamps are offset 90 degrees with respect to each other by placing a 90degree adapter in the lowermost clamp before alining the sighting tube I0 with the bar 9. The effect of this operation is shown in comparison of Figures 12 and 13, wherein the tubing is actually advanced to the left from the position shown in Figure l2 about 20 degrees, but instead of alining the hair line 14 withthe mark 82a it is alined with one of the marks 82. In practice, a record is made every time a 90-degree shift is made, but this is not necessary for the reason that the displacement of the hair line by reason of such shifting is greater than any amount that the pipe would normally move and, therefore, the arbitrary shift is self-evident from inspection of the series of records.

After the bar 33 is inserted in the socket 8 the trigger or push button 41 is raised, switch 53 having first been closed so that the signal light 54 is on. The recording mechanism is thereupon caused to operate: rst, the Warning light 55 is operated, indicating that the record is about to be made; light 55 then goes oiI and at teh same time light 56 goes on along with the photographing light 51, indicating that the photographic record is actually being made. As soon as light 56 goes off and light 55 again comes on, the operator knows that the record is completed and he may withdraw the pin 33 from the socket. Very little actual time is required for this operation.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, and a certain method and mode of operation, I do not wish to be limited thereto but desire to include in the scope of my invention the constructions, combinations and arrangements, and methods of operation substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a -system of surveying well-bores wherein a string of pipes or rods is lowered or raised in stages and the rotation incidental thereto is determined by means of clamp elements and sighting devices which are removably inserted therein, an apparatus for recording the amount of such incidental rotation, comprising: an instrumentality adapted to be inserted in said clamps in the manner of said sighting devices; so as to occupy a xed azimuthal relation thereto; a frame revolvably supporting said instrumentality,means for maintaining said frame at a predetermined azimuth; and coacting means on said frame and said instrumentality for recording the angular movement of said instrumentality relative to said frame required for insertion in said clamps.

2. In'a system of orienting a pipe or rod string by stands into a well-bore positioned at the top of a stand of pipes or rods alined with another clamp, positioned at the bottom of said stand and then lowered with the stand, the combination of a rotation recording device comprising: a frame structure adapted to maintain a xed azimuthal relation with the string of pipes or rods; a member mounted in said vFrame structure for angular movement about wherein a clamp is an axis substantially parallel with said string and adapted to t said clamp; and coacting means on said frame structures and said member for recording the angular movement of said member relative to said frame structure required to t the same into said clamp.

3. In a system of orienting a pipe or rod string by stands into a well-bore wherein a clamp is positioned at the top of a stand of pipes or rods alined with another clamp and then lowered with the stand, the combination of a rotation recording device comprising: a fixed support adapted to be fastened near said string; a housing structure; a parallel motion linkage connecting the housing structure and support, and adapted to permit movement of said housing while restraining the same against rotation with respect to said support, whereby said housing is maintained in a fixed index plane; an instrumentality rotatably supported by said housing and adapted to t said clamp; scale means carried by said instrumentality and said housing for indicating relative angular movement therebetween; and means for recording, at intervals, the positions of said scale means.

4. In a system of surveying well bores wherein a string of pipes or rods is lowered or raised in stages and the rotation incidental thereto is determined by means of clamp elements and sighting devices which are removably inserted therein, of an apparatus for recording the amount of such incidental rotation, comprising: a camera, a mounting therefor securing said camera against movement in azimuth but permitting movement in a horizontal plane; means rotatably supported relative to said camera, including an arm adapted to t said clamps in place of said sighting devices so as to occupy a xed azimuthal position relative thereto and a reference marker rotatable with said arm and adapted to be photograplied by said camera to indicate the azimuthal relation of said arm with respect to the xed position in azimuth of said camera.

5. An apparatus of the class described, com- Drising: a camera; a mounting therefor restraining said camera against rotation in azimuth and including a parallel movement linkage to permit movement of said camera in a horizontal plane,

and journal means permitting movement of said camera about a horizontal axis whereby said camera may be directed vertically; and means mounted for rotation in azimuth about a vertical axis concentrically with respect to said camera and including an` element adapted to be photographed by said camera for indicating the azimuthal relation of said means and camera.

6. An apparatus, as specified in claim 5, wherein a clock is positioned with its face within the photographic range of said camera whereby a series of photographs taken of said camera may be distinguished chronologically.

7. In a method of surveying Well bores, the steps comprising moving a recording instrument within and along a bore in stages on a pipe or rod string; recording by said instrument at a number of points along the bore a series of composite records of the inclination of the bore, the direction of said inclination with respect to a known plane through said instrument, and the time of each recording; recording by a separate instrument outside of and adjacent the upper end of said bore a series of composite records of the angular rotation of said known instrument plane and string with respect to a known azimuth plane, and the time of each recording; the records of direction of inclination and angular rotation comprising marks which define angles, selecting from said series of records an inclination record and an angular rotation recrd having substantially contemporaneous time records thereon; superposing one of said selected records on the other with the respective direction and rotation marks aligned for reading; and reading from said superposed records the amount of inclination and its direction with respect to said azimuth plane to determine the inclination and direction of inclination of the pore at a desired point therealong.

8. In a system of surveying well bores, the combination comprising a survey instrument adapted to be moved within and along a bore in stages on a pipe or rod string, said instrument including a recording device for recording on a single record the inclination, the direction of inclination of said bore with respect to a known plane through said instrument, and the time of each inclination recording; and a second recording device outside'of and adjacent the upper end of said bore and adapted to be connected to said string for recording on a single record the angular rotation of said known plane and string with respect to a known azimuth plane, and the time Of each angular rotation recording; the contemporaneous recordings of said two devices being a series of marks dening angles, and adapted to be superposed with marks aligned for indicating the amount and direction of inclination of a bore with respect to said azimuth plane at a desired point therealong.

WILLARD J. OPOCENSKY. 

